Speaking of Trust

Why the hell should Iraqis trust US soldiers?

Let me put it to you this way. You're at home, in the United States (let's say in Idaho, because it was the first state name I thought of). A group of unarmed men comes up to your house in broad daylight, knocks on your door, and says they are there to arrest your father (or brother, or some other close relative, although for the purposes of this discussion let's imagine that they are a man; sorry ladies). When you ask them for what reason, they tell you he is a criminal but won't elaborate. You ask where he will be taken and they cannot tell you. As they are taking him away, much to your dismay, they assure you that, if he is innocent, he'll be able to come home like nothing happened. Do you trust these men?

You might, under those circumstances. But I bet you'd have your doubts. I certainly would. And that's under those circumstances.

Now imagine instead that you are still in Idaho, only this time armed men in camouflage kick your door down in the dead of night. They ransack your house without saying anything, then they handcuff your male relative and drag him away from you kicking and screaming. When you ask them why, they tell you, in condescending tones, that he is a bad man. As they exit, leaving your house in disarray, they say that if he turns out to be innocent, he'll come back. Trust them now?

A little less, I would imagine. And that's in the United States. Let's add in some complications, like the fact that they do this to you nightly, that three other of your family members have been taken away and never returned, that you are living in constant fear of attack by other people as well as these armed kidnappers, and that they don't speak your language but are still condescending. Let's not forget the exit line though: "If he's innocent, he'll come back." That's the one which always gets me.

I think you see where I'm going with this. Why should Iraqis trust anyone, let alone soldiers of a power which has occupied their country and continues to kidnap their families with little or no explanation? Why should they believe that innocence means anything to the United States, since it doesn't seem to. Why should they have faith in their own government, let alone soldiers from the US?

I don't know the answer. I'm not in the situation, but I can tell you that even if the police arrested my father for a crime that they specified, their assurances that he would be safe if he was really innocent wouldn't reassure me that much. The system is innocent until proven guilty, not, "If he's innocent, he'll come back." Add in the fact that terror suspects in the United States have very little due process, to say nothing of random abductees in Iraq. Add in the fact that families have no idea where their loved ones are being taken. Add in, add in, add in.

Why should they trust us? I wouldn't. Would you? And if they don't trust us, how can we keep them from turning against us? It's not enough to say that we have to do these things because they don't trust us; they don't trust us because we do these things. I don't want terrorists any more than anyone else, and I don't want Americans or Iraqis to be killed, but what is going to make it better? Catching a few minor terrorists now? Or gaining the trust of the people for the future?